“America’s Car Museum is about illustrating America’s love affair with the automobile in unique, memorable ways,” says Madeira. “To achieve this, we’ve partnered Tom Bryant and Ken Gross, two of the auto industry’s most knowledgeable, well-respected journalists and storytellers, to curate fresh exhibitry. Tom and Ken have known each other for years, and their rapport and expertise will help us transcend the conventional museum model and further cultivate ACM’s reputation as a must-see attraction for people across the country.”

Bryant boasts more than 36 years experience in the automotive industry, including 20 years as editor-in-chief of Road & Track and as a long-time honorary judge at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Bryant said he’s always been fascinated by auto racing, and is developing a motorsports exhibit for ACM, which will debut in spring 2013.

"It's a great thrill to put together a Legends of Racing exhibit at the LeMay Museum, said Bryant. “And to work with Ken Gross makes it even more exciting."

ACM features more than 350 cars, trucks and motorcycles, many from the famed Harold LeMay collection, which reached a peak of 3,500 vehicles in the 1990s. Harold’s cars served as the impetus for the 165,000-sq.-ft., four-story museum, which has a 3.5-acre show field, theatre in-the-round, gift shop, banquet center and cafe, an educational center/library and rotating, interactive exhibits.

“Helping to develop ACM’s opening exhibits was an exciting challenge, and I look forward to continuing our momentum into 2013,” said Gross, a Lee Iacocca Award recipient, former Director of the Petersen Automotive Museum and guest curator for critically-acclaimed automotive exhibitions at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Portland (OR) Art Museum and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.

“I’ve known Tom for three decades, we respect one another’s abilities, and together we’ll develop exhibits that reach far beyond anything ever done for an automotive museum.”

State Farm Presents LeMay – America’s Car Museum, which opened June 2, 2012 in downtown Tacoma, Wash., explores how the automobile has fulfilled a distinctive role at the core of the American experience and shaped our society. The spacious Museum with rotating exhibits is designed to be the centerpiece for automotive history as well as an educational center and library. The campus, located adjacent to the Tacoma Dome, also contains a 3.5-acre show field, theatre, café, banquet hall and meeting facilities. To get information on museum hours, becoming an ACM member, volunteer opportunities or to make a donation, visit www.lemaymuseum.org.